Training device for golfers



United States Patent Thomas F. Broderick 697 Cambridge St., Brighton,Boston, Massachusetts 02135 Jan. 13, 1969 Dec. 8, 1970 Inventor Appl.No. Filed Patented TRAINING DEVICE FOR GOLFERS 3 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl. 273/183 A63b 69/36 Field ofSearch 273/ l 83(All), 191.190.54(All) References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,468,386 9/1923MacDonald 273/54(B) 2,330,442 9/1943 Nero 2 73/ 18 1. B)X 3,178,1874/1965 Cardwell 273/183(B) Primary Examiner-George J. MarloAtt0rney-Strauch, Nolan, Neale, Nies & Kurz ABSTRACT: A golfer iscompelled to hold his head properly by wearing a mask including twoapertures through which his field of vision is restricted. A flexiblecord has one of its ends secured to the mask centrally of the apertures,while the other end of the cord is connected to a plumblike weight whichis suspended below the mask in the golfers restricted field of viewwhile addressing a golf ball.

mm we 3.545764 INVENTOR. I THOMAS F. BRODERICK BYSQQU (1;; W M,

ATTORN EY TRAINING DEVICE FOR GOLFERS The present invention relates to adevice for assisting a golfer to improve his stance and swing.

Factors required for a smooth golf swing which result in hitting theball with power and accuracy are well known. Among the principal factorsis to aline the head properly with the ball and to keep the head downand substantially still during the swing. When the head is maintained inproper position, the club moves through a substantially fixed path, andthe swing is smooth and uniform and the club head meets the ballproperly relatively to the golfer.

One of the primary requirements for successful golf is that the swing besubstantially uniform, that is that the club and club head be movedthrough substantially the same path every time. Keeping the feet inproper position at the moment of impact is relatively simple and whenthe head is kept fixed during the swing, the golfers arms and body willnecessarily move through substantially the same path every time with theresult that the club head will always meet the ball at the same pointand in proper alignment.

Maintaining the head still and in proper position is particularlyimportant in putting where accuracy is most essential.

Numerous devices have been suggested for training golfers to maintainthe head still and in proper position during a golf stroke but priordevices have had certain deficiencies. l have found that it is essentialto hold the head in a particular position to maintain the head still;during the stroke and to aid concentration by limiting the area ofvision.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a device toassist a golfer in maintaining proper head position during practice. 1

Another object is to providea device for training a golfer to maintainaccurate sighting during a golf swing.

Another object is to provide a device for training a golfer to positionhis head properly and to maintain such position during a golf swing.

Another object is to provide a device to assist a golfer in developing aconsistentlyuniform swing.

Another object isto provide a device to assist a golfer in developing anaccurate and uniform putting stroke.

These and other objects and advantages reside in novel features ofconstruction and arrangement and relation of parts as will hereinafterbe more fully set forth and pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawing:

FlG. l is a side elevation showing a golfer wearing my novel trainingdevice.

PK]. 2 is a front elevation of the head portion of my training device.

FIG. 3 is 'a vertical section taken on line 33 of FIG. 2.

The training device of the. present invention comprises a mask indicatedgenerally at which may be conveniently formed of plastic or light metal.The mask is preferably opaque or has very low light transmission.

The rear surface 12 of the mask is formed to fit snugly and comfortablyagainst the face and the mask has a recess 14 to fit over the nose. Tworelatively small apertures 16 are provided in the front surface of themask in alinement with the eyes of the user. I have found that aperturesabout one-half inch in diameter are satisfactory but the size is notcritical.

The face portion 12 and the nose recess 14 position the mask so that theapertures 16 are directly alined with the golfers eyes.

A suitable elastic band 18 is secured to the mask to hold it on theuser's face. Perforations indicated at 20 may be provided in the sidesand top of the mask for ventilation.

When the mask is properly positioned on the users face, the user'svision is confined to the apertures 16. This not only shields thegolfers vision from objects or movements which may otherwise distracthim, but because of the limited angle of view through the smallapertures 16 which are directly in front of the golfer's eyes, thegolfer is compelled to face the ball squarely and to hold his headproperly in order to see the ball.

A string 221s fastened to the mask, preferably at the top and center ofthe nose recess 14, and a weight 24 is attached to the free end of thestring 22. A notch 26 may be provided in the nose recess 14 so that thestring 22 will hang from a point midway between the apertures 16. l havefound that a string from 1 to 2 feet in length is satisfactory.

The relatively small apertures 16 compel the golfer to face the ballsquarely and when the head is in this position, the string 22 and balldefine a vertical plane which contains the center line of the golfersface and body. If the golfer moves his head during the stroke, the factand the extent of the movement will be indicated by the weight andbecause of the small size of the apertures 16, the golfer will losesight of the ball. So long as the golfer can see the ball clearly, andso long as the weight 24 remains still, the golfer knows that his headis maintained in proper position.

The weight 24 not only serves as a pendulum to detect movement of thehead but also serves as a sight to enable the golfer to aline his headand bodywith the ball. This is particularly true in putting and-with theshorter clubs where maximum accuracy is required. In putting, thegolfers head is almost directly over the ball so that the weight 24 willalso be almost directly over the ball. The apertures 16 and weight 16together form sights for fixing the position of the head relative to theball.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that i am able to obtain theobjects of my invention and provide a training device for use by agolfer in practice to train himself to position and maintain his head inproper position and proper relation to a mask on the golfers face withthe apertures in alinement with the golfers eyes, a weight, and a cordsecuring said weight to said mask between said apertures so that theweight will hang vertically below the mask.

